OR A TION OF HON. DANIEL NEEDHAM, DEDICATION TOWN HOUSE IN AVER, MASS., OCTOBER 2 6th, 1876. AVER, MASS. : H. Turner, Book and yob Printer. 1876. ORATION. MR. CHAIRMAN, CITIZENS OF AVER, LADIES AND GENTLE- MEN, On the 1 4th of February, eighteen hundred and seventy- one, a bill enacting a law for the establishment of the town of Ayer received the approval of the Massachusetts Legis- lature, and on the succeeding day was marked by the ap- proving signature of the Governor of the Commonwealth. The bill providing for the incorporation of this town took effect on the sixth day of March of the same year, and up- on that day, the first town meeting was held in Ayer, and the last act necessary for launching the town upon its new life, as an independent municipality, took place. In naming the new town, you had decided to confer dis- tinction upon a prominent citizen of a neighboring city ; and he, in turn for the honor conferred, desired in some signal way to recognize his gratification. On the sixth day of February, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, Dr. J. C. Ayer, addressed a letter, of which the following is a copy, to Abel Prescott, Esq., in answer to a letter informing him of the action of the people at Groton Junction in the adoption of the new name : " I have the honor to receive your favor of the 2d inst., in- forming me of the action of your fellow-citizens in the adoption of my name, ' Ayer,' as the name of your new town, with Mr. Felch's certificate as clerk of the meeting. " I pray you, Sir, to convey to your fellow-citizens my apprecia- tion and acknowledgment of the high honor they seek to confer upon me, and my sincere hope that the future will present no occasion to regret the choice which they have made. " I should be insensible to the influences that govern men, if the partiality of your citizens did not awaken in me an interest in the well-being of "Ayer," and I assure you, Sir, that I shall wait with readiness to aid therein as opportunity or occasion may arise." Being desirous of recognizing by some public act, a hearty interest in the new town which bore his name, Dr. J. C. Ayer, on the 26th day of Sept., 1871, forwarded to the Se- lectmen of Ayer a letter, of which the following is a copy : " Wishing to acknowledge the high and generous distinction conferred upon me by the residents of Ayer, in adopting my name for their Town, and in view of the uncertainty of human life and fortune, I desire now to accomplish and perfect the following : " To donate the sum of ten thousand five hundred dollars to three Trustees, who shall be -chosen by the Town for the pur- poses of this trust, as follows : one for one year, one for two years, one for three years, and their successors to be chosen ever afterwards, one each year for the term of three years. "These Trustees shall receive and invest the money safely, and from the annual interest thereof shall provide a silver medal, to be given each year to the best scholar in the public schools dur- ing the year, none to be but once eligible ; the award to be made by the school committee. " Of the remaining interest, four-fifths shall be annually paid over by the Trustees to the school committee of Ayer, to be by them applied for promoting the education of youth in the town in such way and manner as to them shall seem best to further the purpose of the grant ; the remaining one-fifth to be added to the principal for its preservation and increase. In case of loss to this fund, reducing it below ten thousand dollars, then the transfer of interest annually to the school committee, as herein- 5 above provided, shall cease, until the sum invested shall again reach the original capital intended of ten thousand dollars. " Whenever the Trustees for this fund are elected, I desire to place the money in their hands." This proposition not meeting with entire acceptance, and Dr. Ayer being notified of the fact, a letter bearing date Oct. 2 ist, 1871, was addressed by him to E. Dana Bancroft, Esq., of which letter the following is a copy : " On reflection it seems to me desirable, in view of the fact that your citizens differ somewhat as to the disposition of the do- nation I desire to make, that all my conditions and suggestions which might embarrass them should be withdrawn, leaving it en- tirely at their discretion. " Therefore, I beg you Sir, submit my readiness to pay over the amount to the Selectmen of Ayer, or any person authorized by them upon call, for the benefit of the Town, its schools, or what- ever its people shall direct." . It is difficult to understand how a more liberal proposi- tion than this could have been made. In substance, Dr. Ayer says, I am willing to relinquish all my cherished plans ; willing to sink all my preferences and wave all my judg- ment and opinion, that the gift may be thoroughly accepta- ble to the people who have chosen my name for the char- tered name of the new town. How could he have said more ? In accordance with this sentiment the money was paid over to the town, and the town had it in its power and dis- cretion to use it in accordance with its will. But doubters were not all silenced, and doubts were not all removed. The building of a town hall had been suggest- ed by quite a number of the citizens of Ayer, as the best disposition to be made of the gift. Still entertaining the liberal view expressed in a letter to John Spaulding, Esq., Oct., 1871, " If my gift can be made more acceptable to your fellow-citizens, I shall be glad to assist in such a change ; " Dr. Ayer readily accepted the proposition of the town hall, and June 4th, 1872, addressed a letter to Henry Woods, Esq., in the following words : " If the Town can obtain a lot, and build a foundation there- upon, in accordance with the specifications of the architect, I have employed for that purpose (Messrs. Weston & Rand), of a build- ing of about fifty-five feet front, and about one hundred and fif- teen deep, up one story, I would place thereupon, and finish a Town House, to contain a hall, ante-rooms, and appliances, fin- ish and complete the same. The foundation to be built up one story by the Town, in accordance with the style and plans of the Architect, and to their acceptation as shall be the entire building. " I should wish to employ the amount already given to the Town of Ayer, and pay the balance myself." And on the eleventh day of June, 1872, a letter of which the following is a copy, was addressed by Dr. J. C. Ayer to Henry Woods, Charles Brown and G. C. Brock, Committee: " My architects advise me that we can more conveniently ac- complish our wishes in building a Town House for your people, if we have, the construction of the whole shell of the house. Therefore permit me to substitute for my proposition addressed to Mr. Wood, the following : " If it is your pleasure to provide the land shown to Mr. Wes- ton ; grade and prepare it to his acceptation, and build a founda- tion thereon up to the brick, conformably to his requirements ; I will build the walls thereupon one story high to contain library, post office, and other rooms not ordinarily pertaining to a Town House as has been suggested ; I will build above and upon that, the Town House. You to cut up and finish the lower story as you desire, in conformity with the general style and finish of the building and with the requirements of the architects. " The amount already given being returned to me, I shall build upon the first story above mentioned, a Town House for the Town of Ayer, according to plans and specifications which Architects shall prepare. 11 To restate my suggestions perhaps more clearly ; you provide and prepare the land and foundation up to the level of the first story, including fence, stone walks, &c., according to the require- ments of Architects ; I build the walls of the first story and a Town House above and upon them. The whole to be done in conformity with the requirements of the Architects." These brief letters contain a full history of the origin and erection of this building and indicate on the part of the writer in their letter and spirit, a full determination to make his gift to the town which had honored him, thoroughly ac- ceptable to the citizens of Ayer. As the result of these letters and this gift, this building, in its imposing grandeur, stands here to-day ; and we are here to aid in the ceremonies of dedication. The ideal Government of the founders of the American Republic is more perfectly symbolized by a town hall than by any other material structure. Said John Carver and his forty associates who signed the compact on board the May Flower, November eleventh, sixteen hundred and twenty : " We do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one an- other, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid ; and by virtue hereof do enact, constitute and frame, such just and equal laws, ordi- nances, acts, constitutions and officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the gen- eral good of the Colony ; into which we promise all due submission and obedience." The whole theory of our Government was pronounced in this simple agreement which foreshadowed the growth de- veloped from an ancestry who recognized man as the equal of man in all the relations of civil polity. 8 These men had no ambitions as the founders of a nation or the recognized leaders of a great people. In fact, they arranged a simple compact for a kind of family government, and their desire for liberty and equality never comprehend- ed or attained the thought of an organized body of law-giv- ers outside of and beyond 'themselves. They, the people ; the heads of families, agreed upon the only constitution which they conceived necessary for their government ; and to that they affixed their names, and by that they determined to abide. They had little opinion of human law, except to abhor it ; little opinion of human rulers, except to fear them ; little opinion of human judicial organizations except as interpre- ters of law to promote the selfish aggrandizement of a few to the injury of the masses. They regarded themselves and their posterity, under the Divine law, written not upon tables of stone. They caught the whisperings of the inspired word, " this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their minds and write them in their hearts ; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people ; and they shall not teach every man his neighor and every man his brother, saying know the Lord ; for all shall know me from the least to the greatest." This grand conception was the ideal government ; and in the simplicity of their lives and the integrity of their high born purposes, they could con- ceive of the possibility of a government in this new world, which would not only rest upon the doctrines of Christian faith, but drink in from the noblest utterances of prophet and apostle, its only inspirations. So long as this sentiment prevailed, so long the meeting house answered the purposes of both spiritual and civil needs. But society grew and changed ; men whose convictions were not based upon principles of Christian faith found way into the new organization ; and, although, the great idea of equal rights under the law still remained the basis of an ideal government, laws more comprehensive than originally con- templated in the compact were needed ; laws with severe penalties affixed to their violation, that encroachments upon life, personal liberty and the enjoyment of the productions of labor might be successfully guarded against. The early settlers of New England, thus, in the course of time, devel- oped the town house ; which was and is, a purely American institution ; and as we understand it, the town house or town hall exists in no other country, and dates for its origin to the development of civil government in New England. The dedication of a town house was to the fathers as ne- cessary as the dedication of a meeting house. Heretofore religion and the civil government had been united. The home government had not separated them ; earliest tradi- tion had brought them through the long lines of generations as coexistant in ruler and ruled ; in government and gov- erned. And the settlers of this country, although they con- ceived no original idea of separating religion and civil gov- ernment, developed a policy far beyond their education and traditions. The dedication of the town house had for them a great significance. It meant, for a civil polity what the dedication of the church meant for a religious ; the sacredly setting apart for the people, of a local family house, where all persons designated citizens, should have an equal voice and vote; 10 where no citizen should fail of right to recognition and where upon a common and equal platform all could be heard. It was the first castle ever erected to individual civil liberty by a local community ; and the dedication of such a build- ing was designed to call especial attention to the great un- derlying principle of the recognition of the equal right of men, to be heard in all matters and measures which might be adopted for their government and the protection of their persons and property. The town was to the fathers a community which could have in and of itself a perfect government. Its selectmen ; men chosen for their virtue, good judgment and general knowledge ; were selected from the mass of citizens, be- cause better fitted to manage and control in public affairs ; and the town clerk, " whose knowledge of letters and skill in penmanship " should fit him peculiarly for his important position, was selected with great care by the citizens. In their grave view of the town house belonging to the town ; of every citizen having ownership in it and directly or indirectly helping build it, they appreciated the deep res- ponsibility resting upon all for the manner of its use. It was the people's Parliament house ; not the king's. Therefore by solemn act, with reverence and public notice, it should be consecrated to the purposes of civil equality. To the men who had left all the institutions of civilized life, abandoned the homes of their fathers and sought new homes in the wilds of America, civil liberty and personal equality under the law, had a meaning far deeper than words could easily speak. We go back with pride, pleasure and profit to the deep meaning of the New England fathers in the dedication of II the town hall. And to-day we accept this grand building as a pledge of the people to whom it belongs, that here shall the equality of the citizen be maintained and the protection of the town secured, by the selection of the best represen- tative men to fill all the elective offices within its jurisdic- i tron. It is a most fit occasion to " Think what we are and for what ends designed ; How we may best, through life's long mazes wind ; What we should wish for ; how we may discern The bounds of wealth and its true uses learn, How fix the portion which we ought to give To friends, relations, country ; how to live As fits our station ; and how best pursue What God has placed us in this world to do." A hundred years have passed since the first town house was dedicated in the American Republic ! A hundred years, and the nation has grown from three to forty millions of people ! A hundred years, and the wealth of the nation has in- creased in a ratio far exceeding that of its population ! A hundred years, and the territory of the nation has in- creased from a territory numbered by hundreds of thousands of square miles to a domain measured only by millions ! A hundred years, and we have challenged the nations of the world to compare notes with us in all the productions of the industries of life ; and the challenge has been accept- ed, and to-day on our American soil, in one of the original thirteen States, from whence the historic peals of the liber- ty bell have made themselves heard throughout the world, Europe and Asia, Africa, South America and Australia, have gathered their forces of productive industry and sub- mitted them for competition and comparison, and ask an im- partial judgment. 12 The century of progress, in point of time, has brought the people of the most remote sections of the country, in 1876, much nearer together than were the people of the more limited territory in 1776. The century ot progress has left its mark of change on all our institutions of learning and charity ; of art and de- sign ; of implement of labor and manner of production. Much of the invention and handiwork of the fathers has been laid- aside, and so completely have they passed by, that we regard their possession, as fortunate relics, to indicate the rapid march of a hundred years of industrial art. But no progress of art ; no skill in the adaptation of ma- chinery; no production which study or experience has de- vised, has supplanted this noble edifice of our ancestors, the TOWN HALL. Like the everlasting mountains of our own New England, the town hall still stands the emblem of equal rights, among a people born to the love of liberty and civil equal- ity. How better can I improve the remaining portion of the brief space allotted me in these exercises of dedication, than by calling your attention to the significance of the town house as it has stood through the century of the Republic and as it still continues to stand, an inheritance from the fathers, which like a city set upon a hill has given light among all nations. A fit name of the Government under which we live would be a TOWN HOUSE GOVERNMENT. Popular liberty has had its first protection in the local power which centered in New England communities in this people's citadel : the town house. And the ideal American sovereign, originated 13 with the equal right of every citizen, to discuss and debate upon a common platform all the intricate questions of Gov- ernment and to enjoy in common with every other citizen an equal vote and influence in the adoption of every civil constitution and law. THE TOWN HOUSE REPRESENTS FREE SPEECH. " Here shall free speech the people's rights maintain, Unawed by tyrants and unbribed by gain." Free speech may sound familiar and trite ; but it never stood for more in the life of the American citizen, and was never more endangered by the clamor of demagogues or by sectional controversies in any previous period of the na- tion's history. The free speech of a citizen and the free speech of an individual may enjoy no kinship. No one, surely, will claim for it an unbridled tongue. The statute limits it in its prohibition of profanity and blasphemy. It is a right conferred by and protected under the law ; differing from a personal right, it attains the magnitude of a trust for public uses. The welfare of society underlies it. Being a pro- tected right under the law and owing its origin to an act of legislation, and depending for its maintainance on the po- lice force of organized Government, it is in no sense a na- tural right. By descending to personalities in the discussion of public questions ; by using the trickery of the charlatan and dema- gogue ; men are made unworthy of this high boon of the citizen and attack the very foundation upon which its secur- ity rests. 14 The free speech symbolized by the town house, restricts itself to the discussion of public questions ; in a fair, can- did, dignified manner ; by the use of language which will neither excite or beget personal animosities. This great public right must never in its uses interfere with a corresponding privilege of use and enjoyment in every other citizen. Like the right to the highway it is for a purpose ; and whenever the use of it amounts to an obstruction of another who has an equal right to its privi- leges, the unauthorized use becomes a trespass and an of- fence. Whenever free speech ceases to be in the interests of so- ciety it is no longer a protection, but a subversion of both liberty and equality. In their attempts to secure unrestricted freedom to speech, the Jacobins and Red Republicans of the French Revolution created a despotism far worse than any mon- archy of Europe. And that which attempted to be free Government, was a reign of terror during which the very streets of Paris were rivers of human blood. THE TOWN HOUSE REPRESENTS THE FREE BALLOT. This is the place first to express our view of public policy and then to cast a vote for the man who will the nearest repre- sent that view. . The casting of the ballot is not, however, an individual right, but a citizen's privilege. Therefore the right to cast a ballot becomes a public right ; no more to be trifled with or abused than any other puplic right secured under the law. If the right to vote were individual, all men and women and children could cast a ballot. But 15 the ri^ht of ballot is a citizen's right and the law restricts it to citizens and defines the word citizen, so that there shall be no misunderstanding. The ballot which the citizen has the right to cast belongs to -him only as a member of a community of men, to be used for the benefit of that community. It is a trust conferred by the law ; therefore the sale of the ballot is prohibited and punishable. If the ballot was an individual right, and involved owner- ship, as does individual property, the citizen without dis- grace could fix his price for his ballot as he does for his house and land and make sale of it. It is not only not a personal right, but it is a forfeitable right. Under certain conditions the citizen may lose it ; violation of the law may dispossess him and make a rein- statement of his right depend upon a Legislative act. The public interest underlies the exercise of the ballot in the town house, as it underlies free speech or the right of way in the public thoroughfare. THE TOWN HOUSE REPRESENTS POPULAR EDUCATION. Underlying free speech and the exercise of the ballot, is knowledge. Who can speak well if he has not words ! who can act intelligently if he has not wisdom ! Our great system of public instruction owes its support to the edicts of the town house. If measures for the support of public schools are not adopted, the town house belies itself, and the free speech and free ballot which it symbolizes are dead carcasses and the building a whited sepulchre. i6 "Who knows better than we that " the winds and waves are always on the side of the best navigators." And what does this signify, except that he who learns the most of the elements, approximates the nearest to being their master. Said Lord Brougham, " There have been periods when the country heard with dismay that the soldier was abroad. That is not the case now. Let the soldier be ever so much abroad in the present age, he can do nothing. There is anoth- er person abroad perhaps a less important person in the eyes of some an insignificant person whose labors have tended to produce this state of things ; the school-master is abrpad ; and I trust more to the school-master, armed with his primer, than I do to the soldier, in his full military ar- ray, for extending and upholding the liberties of my country." The public schools hail from the town house ; they or- iginate in the town meeting ; and the appropriations for their support can come from no other source. When that fountain ceases to yield a supply, the school-house will be but a monument of departed glory. Whatever is to be done, implies some one to d>o it. If the people from a proper interest in public education lack the capacity, the demagogue will seize the reins and lead the way from democracy to tyranny. Whoever votes against liberal means for the support of public schools, votes against the theory of the town hall and self-government. Means must be adapted to ends. Ig- norance never preserved the liberty of a people or advanced their progress from bondage to freedom. School-houses may not necessarily be evidences of intellectual growth, but the absence of the school-house and the school-master will 17 necessitate a more vigilant police and subvert the founda- tions of democratic institutions. THE TOWN HOUSE REPRESENTS INTEGRITY OF PURPOSE AND AGREEMENT TO YIELD THE INDIVIDUAL PREFERENCE TO THE PUBLIC GOOD. The loyal citizen accepts the will of the majority and rec- ognizes his allegiance to that will, as expressed in constitu- tional law. Said Judge Marshall "A strict observance of justice and public faith and a steady adherence to virtue, are the principles of good government." Destitute of these elements, GOVERNMENT is A SHAM. It matters little what we call it ; THE BETTER THE NAME, THE MORE GLARING THE PRETENCE. We are the rulers. The stream cannot rise above the fountain, and if there be a lack of virtue in the people, they may fail to see the hand-writing, but it will be as surely upon the walls as in the days of Belshazzar. THE TOWN HOUSE REPRESENTS AN ELASTIC GOVERNMENT J humanity made it to meet the wants of humanity. As the town house community grows, so grows the government under which they thrive. The people are first in consequence, and the government has neither value nor significance, except as it aids them in their development. When an old constitution becomes worthless a new one is adopted ; when the new one is not broad enough to meet the wants of the people, amendments are engrafted, and the growth of the people is not hindered. The people are the ruled, and the people are the rulers ; and as the people develope new wants and protections, the new wants and protections are instantly supplied ; and the i8 government broadens and widens ; and ancestral and time- worn bands give way. This elasticity of our Republic growing out of the town house, has widely influenced all the governments of the civilized world. England recognizes it, and changes its ministry when it fails of the support of the House of Commons ; Germany recognizes it, and elevates Bismarck to the rank of a Prince ; Russia recognizes it, and proclaims freedom to its millions of serfs ; Italy recognizes it, and separates civil from ecclesiastical authority. Every grow- ing government must recognize elasticity ; and, in recog- nizing it, acknowledge that GOVERNMENT is VALUABLE ON- LY AS IT MEETS THE WANTS OF THE PEOPLE AND LIFTS AND CARRIES BURTHENS FOR HUMANITY, AND ELEVATES A NATION TO A MORE PERFECT COMPREHENSION OF THE ABILITIES AND POSSIBILITIES OF MAX. I have called attention to the deep, broad significance of the town house, as understood by the fathers, and as inter- preted by the history of New England. To-day, you citizens of Ayer, accept this town house, in part a gift of him for whom your town was named, and in part the production of your aggregate contributions to the treasury and credit of your town. It is too late to question the wisdom of building it. It is too late to enquire if you might not have erected an edifice at less cost or more in harmony with your imme- diate necessities. Here is the building in its grand and stately proportions ; an honor to the enterprise of any man, or body of men, and happily adapted to the uses for which the town house is established. And, to-day, bygones are bygones. Doubt, must yield to 19 faith. Your fortunate town location, commanding as it does the most ready communication with all parts of the country, cannot fail to give you an extended business and an active population. Already in your infancy, you have developed a capacity for growth, which you may look upon with pride, and your neighbors with emulation. From less than a valuation of eight hundred thousand dollars, when you took upon yourselves the responsibility of an independent organization and separated yourselves from the mother town of Groton, you have approximated to twelve hundred thousand dollars ; an increase of which you may well be proud and which may well stimulate courage to encounter difficulties of more than ordinary magnitude. To-day, with as much thrift as the average manufacturing town of Massachusetts, and with a growth, since your or- ganization, far exceeding any town in your neighborhood, you come together, and by public ceremony perform a great public act. You dedicate this town hall ; and by the act of dedication, give an outspoken promise to be governed by the principles it teaches and the character of the public life it comprehends. Aye, more. You dedicate and accept it as a great trust, to be handed in all its purity of purpose and design to your successors ; and you have called in these guests in attesta- tion of this solemn promise. They have come from city and town, at your request and by your invitation, to witness this solemn compact, which, in the dedication of this building, you make for your- selves, and among yourselves, as the citizens of an organ- L/BRARV 20 ized town, with all your sister towns, your State and the Nation. This is no unmeaning or idle ceremony which you have summoned us to take part in ; and we join you on this glad and historic occasion, believing that you fully comprehend the significance of the ceremony, and that by it you pledge new and increased devotion to the FREEDOM 01-- SPEECH, FREEDOM OF THE BALLOT, UNIVERSAL EDUCATION AND POPULAR GOVERNMENT.